Joseph Bias Ministries

Lent – Day 11 – A Study of Matthew 5

“Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.” Matthew 5:17-18

All that God has set in motion from the beginning, and all that He declared through the Law and the Prophets, has its summation in Jesus Christ our Lord. All the course of creation from the beginning to the end of the world is purposed in Him and will be fulfilled in Him.

Life, from the beginning of creation has never been, nor will it ever be random or capricious. God set things in order before the beginning of time and all things exist and flow within the boundaries of His purposes and plans. Not all things are from His hands but all things are subject to His established laws and prophecies. It may not always seem as though God is involved in the things that effect our lives day to day, particularly when those things involve the evil works of the devil, darkness, death and sin.

But these are but affirmations of what Jesus has told us would be, and in the end and for all eternity we will know what God’s fulfilled purposes and plans were and are, though for the present time we only can see only faint images of them.

“For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.” 1 Corinthians 13:12

For the moment, we can see only dimly as through a glass, and what we can see is distorted by the brokenness of this present world, brokenness that resulted from Adam and Eve’s disobedience. But that brokenness cannot and will not prevail, and even now is being healed throughout the world as more and more nations hear, believe and receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We don’t hear about it in the mainstream or even cable news programing, but it is happening nonetheless. Evil cannot prevail in the presence of the light of the glorious gospel that shines in the face of Jesus Christ, whose light is now shining in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of Jesus to the world and bring glory to God.

“But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them. For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us.” 2 Corinthians 4:3-7

We are carriers of Jesus in our bodies and He is revealed to the world in our words and our actions.

Now, don’t let that thought intimidate or overwhelm you. If Christ is in you, then you are a new creation and His life is flowing out from you even when you are not consciously aware of doing or saying something spiritual. In fact, you are mirroring the life of Jesus in your life in more ways than you know as you simply live to be a blessing to others, as you encourage, as you exhort others to good works, as you feed the hungry, and even when you simply present a pleasant countenance to the world, you are showing Jesus to them.

The Law and the prophets point to Jesus. Jesus is fulfilling them and pointing the way to the Father. The Father has sent us the Holy Spirit to keep us until the day when all things are fulfilled and we are once again restored to life, life eternal with the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Until then, we rest in the assurance that God is still large and in charge!